Introduction
NOTE: The data and findings below are drafts subject to change and
some pieces are still in the QA process.
RACE COUNTS provides a 3D view of racial equity:
OUTCOME: How
well people are doing. The higher the circle, the better the outcome
DISPARITY: How racial groups compare to one another. The further
right the circle, the greater the differences by race.
IMPACT: The
total population. The bigger the circle, the larger the population.
Purple counties: Gains at Risk;
Orange counties: Prosperity for
the Few;
Yellow counties:
Struggling to Prosper;
Red counties:
Stuck and Unequal.
Race/Ethnicity Notes
1) “Other” race includes those who identify with a race outside
of the specifically named categories, such as Asian, White, etc.
2)
Race labels for bar charts: The “nh_” prefix signifies that a group is
non-Latinx (excludes Latinx).
3) The “twoormor” group represents
those who identify as Multiracial.
Indicators
Health Care Access Index - UPDATED
- Marin County has the best overall Health Care access but also ranks
as the sixth most disparate county in the state.
- Looking across indicators, Black Californians fare worse than other
groups in 3 out of the 6 indicators for Health Care Access.
- All eight of the counties in the San Joaquin Valley Region have
lower than average outcomes when it comes to health care access. They
are all in the red or yellow quadrants.
- All nine Bay Area counties have above average health care access
outcomes, with five out of the nine counties also having lower than
average rates of racial disparity.
Low Birthweight - UPDATED
Scatterplot
- There is also a moderately strong, negative correlation between
population and outcome. Higher population counties tend to experience
higher (worse) rates of infants with low birthweight. The notable
exception is Orange County, which is the third most populous county in
the state and is in the purple quadrant (higher outcome, lower
disparity).
- Sacramento and Kern counties exhibit the largest racial disparities
in low birthweight rates, with Black birth outcomes notably on the wrong
end of these disparities. In Sacramento and Kern, Black infants are more
than 2x more likely to be underweight than White infants.
State Barchart
- Black babies have the significantly highest likelihood of having low
birthweight of any racial group in California. They are 1.5x more likely
than the group with the next highest rate (American Indian/Alaska
Native), and more than 2x more likely than the group with the lowest
rate (White).
Lack of Health Insurance - UPDATED
Scatterplot
- Similar to the mental health/substance abuse help indicator, Marin
County has the third highest overall rate of health insurance, but the
third worst racial disparity. Latinx residents of the county are nearly
7x more likely to be uninsured rate than White residents.
- Sierra County has the highest disparity and is tied for worst
outcome among counties. Over half of its Latinx population is uninsured
– a rate 7.5x higher than its White population.
- Los Angeles County is one of the worst outcome counties. Almost 9%
of LAC residents are uninsured, including 12.9% of its Latinx
residents.
State Barchart
- White residents are half as likely to be uninsured as the average
Californian.
- Latinx and American Indian/Alaska Native Californians are about 3x
more likely to be uninsured than White residents.
- Californians who identify with a “another race” are the most likely
to be uninsured. Although it is difficult to know which individuals
identify with this group, it likely includes many who are Latinx (as
“Another Race” includes Latinx for this indicator) and those with
origins in Southwest Asia and North Africa, among others.
Preventable Hospitalizations -
UPDATED
Scatterplot
- Notably, in San Mateo which has the least disparity and the fourth
best outcomes, Black residents are twice as likely to be hospitalized as
the average resident.
- In many counties, some of the highest rates are for Another Race,
local knowledge will be needed to better understand who makes up this
group in each county.
State Barchart
- The Black preventable hospitalization rate is nearly 5x higher than
that of the group with the lowest rate, and 2.5x higher than even the
state average.
- The preventable hospitalization rate for White Californians is about
8% higher than the state average and more than 2x higher than the rate
of group with the lowest rate. This is the only health metric in which
White residents experience worse outcomes than the state average.
Got Help - UPDATED
Scatterplot
- Marin County has both the worst disparities and the best outcomes on
this indicator. A very low Asian rate (31.4%) and a low AIAN rate (47.8)
are behind the disparity. On average, 66.9% of Marin residents get help
for these issues compared to the state average of 57.4%.
State Barchart
- Statewide, Asian residents are the least likely to get help,
followed by Latinx and Pacific Islanders.
Life Expectancy - NOT UPDATED
Scatterplot
- Five of the six counties in Southern California have greater than
average racial disparities in life expectancy.
- Every county in the San Joaquin Valley has below average life
expectancy rates.
- Less populous, less urban counties tend to have fewer racial
disparities in life expectancy. Of the 15 least disparate counties in
this measure, none of them are classified as urban and only one is among
the top ten most populous counties in the state.
- The state’s most populous, more urban counties tend to exhibit
greater racial disparities in life expectancy. San Francisco, San
Bernardino, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Alameda counties
are all among the top 20 for disparity levels in this metric.
State Barchart
- Asians have the highest life expectancy, followed by non-Latinx
White Californians. Non-Latinx Blacks have the lowest life expectancy
rate in the state, six years lower than the average statewide rate.
Usual Source of Care - UPDATED
Scatterplot
- All nine Bay Area counties have above average usual source of care
rates among their populations and eight counties are in the purple
Quadrant (Lower Disparity, Higher Outcome).
- Counties with larger populations tend to have lower levels of racial
disparity in their usual source of care rates, with only two of the 16
counties with 500,000 or more residents appearing in the higher
disparity quadrants (Orange and Red).
State Barchart
- Latinx, Pacific Islander, AIAN, SWANA, and Asian Californians are
less likely to have a usual source of care than the average
Californian.
- The Latinx and Pacific Islander usual source of care rates (78.5)
are over nine percentage points lower the White rate (87.7).